An amateur 'Easy Catamaran' hello

[puremajek]

In my small way, I join this fantastic forum. What a great place for finding out the nitty-gritty in building, cruising etc

I am in the middle of constructing an 11.6m Snell design 'Easy Catamaran'. Never heard of them ? well...the designer Peter Snell is based in Brisbane Australia and his plans target the amateur catamaran boat builder (thank heavens). My other interests are with the computers and to this end, my build is being kept updated on a Website called:

www.puremajek.com

The site is an amateur log of the boat-build, the obstacles along the way and how we have overcome them on the cheap. For someone currently sitting on the fence and who may not have the cash to buy a multi, but may have the will to build one , take a look. This may provide inspiration to achieve what many think is the unachievable, financially or otherwise.

Its through Forums such as this that I keep flying along with enthusiasm, thank you.

[Lightfin]

Very interesting and VERY IMPRESSIVE!!

I look forward to following your progress.

Good luck!!!

PS: I you do not mind, I would be interested in your budget and actual expenses; I may have missed them, but did not find any references to costs.

The other thing I'd be interested in knowing is how many total construction hours you expect to put in before launching.

Thanks!

Bob

[puremajek]

Bob

Costs vary with this ply/glass cat. We have seen one on the water for $80K AUD. It was very nice however, smaller than ours (around the 10m - 11m mark and completed in late 2002). The plans target the amateur person and exclude many of the more complicated build items such as mechanical/hydraulic steering, using simple hand-tillers. We have chosen to include items such as a alternate steering, separate vanity area, fridge, oven and additional storage (to mention a few) and expect to come in around the $125k AUD mark. So far, its running to budget. I suspect too that if you are looking for the 'super-gloss-smooth' paint finish found on the pro cats, that that will add to the cost. We are contemplating getting the final coat done by a 'Pro' at the moment and they already want to use other paint brands (for whatever reason) that are 30% outside our paint budget costs.

Hours wise, we are planning on 2500, remembering that we got the bare hulls and lower bridgedeck made for us by the designer. That definitely gave us a jump-start and allowed us to steam along to where we are now.

While I am not 'plugging' this design type, I (like other amateurs) believed that these cats targeted the wealthy professionals only and were out of the reach of the bare amateur such as myself. As a footnote, it is definitely an advantage to be a little timber savvy, have time on your side and a strong will to succeed. There are other builders who are also on the Web building this type, send me an email to puremajek@dodo.com.au and I'll send you contact data.

Hope this helps, merry Xmas
James

[northerncat]

james i did not even know you were onthis forum, hopefully catch up again soon
sean

[dcstrng]

Originally Posted by puremajek

In my small way, I join this fantastic forum...

Welcome... I'd been on your site several times in recent months and have enjoyed learning from your commentary and watching photos of your progress...